Darning appliance



March 1 1937. R. G. MACPHERSON 2,073,993

DARNING APPLIANCE Filed July 17, 1936 Patented Mar. 16, 1937 PATENTOFFICE 2,073,993 DARNING APPLIANCE Reginald George Macpherson,Harrogate, England Application July 1'7, 1936, Serial No. 91,221 InGreat Britain July 23, 1935 2 Claims.

The invention relates to appliances or apparatus for facilitating theoperation of darning, and it has for its object to provide an improveddevice for the purpose.

Apparatus according to the invention is characterized by the combinationof a carrier plate having its lower edge serrated to provide spacedrecesses, and a second plate slidably supported adjacent one face of thecarrier plate and also having its lower edge serrated at double thepitch or'spacing of the carrier plate, means being provided whereby, thesecond plate can be moved vertically a suitable distance in relation tothe carrier plate and when in raised position can be moved laterally adistance equal to one pitch or spacing of the serrations of the carrierplate, so as to depress alternate warp threads previously placed acrossthe hole to be darned, and the lower ends of the sides of the carrierplate being provided with eyes through which a removable pin can beinserted to extend horizontally across the platea short distance belowthe upper ends of the recesses in said plate.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, a front view and an edge view of adevice embodying the invention in one form;

Fig. 3 is a detail modification of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2;and

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the action of the device.

Referring to the drawing, a represents the carrier plate which is madeof suitable dimensions and has its lower edge serrated to provide 35recesses a. of appropriate depth and of a width and spacing to suit thematerial or yarn for which the device is designed.

,Inwardly-turned lugs a on the carrier plate a hold slidably adjacentits front face a second 40 plate I) the lower edge of which is serratedas at b similarly to the lower edge of the carrier plate but at doublethe pitch or spacing of the latter.

The width of the lower part of the plate I), in relation to the width ofthe carrier plate, is

5 such that the said plate I) can be moved laterally a distance equal toone pitch or spacing of the serrations a of the carrier plate.

Slots b in the upper part of the plate b receive projections c on aplate 0, the rear edge 50 of which rests in the apex of a V-shapedrearward recess a of the plate a. A spring d, which may conveniently bein the form of a rubber band and be anchored about the part (1 acts uponthe plate 0, and tends to hold it in 55 u h a position that theprojections 0' hold the plate I) in raised position, defined by means ofa pin 2 on the carrier plate which projects into a slot 11 in the plate22 and, when I the said plate is in raised position, bears against thebottom of the slot as shown in Fig. 1. When the plate I) is depressedthe pin bears against the upper edge of the slot b and assists indetermining the permissible downward movement of the plate b.

The edges of the plate a are formed with 10 lugs a which cooperate withrecesses or slots b on the plate I) to guide the upper end of the saidplate as it is moved vertically, and also assist in limiting thepermissible downward movement of the plate I). 15

The lower ends of the edges of the plate a. are fashioned with lugs ahaving openings through which may be passed a removable pin 1, thedisposition of the lugs being such that the pin extends horizontallyacross the plate a short 20 distance below the upper ends of therecesses a. In Figs. 1 and 2-the pin is shown as being located on therear side of the plate a. It will, however, preferably be located on thefront side, as indicated in Fig. 3, for a reason which will be referredto later.

The extremities of the projections which form the spaced recesses b inthe lower edge of the plate 11 are preferably bent frontwardly as at 12In using the device, the hole to be darned is first covered in the usualway by a series of parallel, suitably-spaced stretches of yarn g which,for convenience of reference, may be termed warp threads.

The projections on the lower end of the carrier plate a are now passeddown between the warp threads g so that one of such threads lies in eachgap or recess a. between two adjacent projections. The pin f is theninserted beneath the warp threads. If the plate a is now depressed, itsprojections will depress those warp threads which are positioned beneaththem, that is to say every other warp thread will be depressed. A weftyarn h is then passed by means of a needle i through the shed or gap 7formed between the upper and lower warp threads. When the needle hasbeen passed throughthe shed it is moved sideways to carry the insertedweft up to the fell of the darn parallel to the last inserted weft. Theweft is then darned into the edge of the opening by means of the needle.The slidable plate I) is then released, to be raised by its spring d,and this permits the depressed warp threads to rise.

The plate b is then moved laterally through the permissible distance ofone pitch or spacing of the recesses a and is depressed again, when itpresses down the warp threads which at the previous operation were leftraised. Another length of weft is inserted, and so on until the openingto be darned has been covered. Withdrawal of the pin g then leaves thecarrier plate and with it the plate b, free to be lifted away from thefabric.

If the pin 1 is located in front of the plate a as in Fig. 3 instead ofbehind it as in Figs. 1 and 2, the rear side of the plate can reachright up to the end of the hole to be darned and a more complete darn beeffected.

The frontwardly bent lower ends b of the projections on the lower end ofthe plate b form a horizontal guide way to facilitate passage of theweft needle through the shed formed by the depression of the plate 11.

The upper end of the plate b is preferably provided with side lugs suchas b, and a top flange b so that it can conveniently be moved laterallyand depressed by the thumb and fingers of one hand, leaving the otherhand free for the manipulation of the weft needle. The ends of therecess a are preferably closed in to facilitate gripping of the device.

It will be understood that the details of construction and arrangementof the device, so far as concern more particularly the raising andlowering of the plate b and its lateral movements may be varied from theparticular embodiment I have illustrated and described, this being onlygiven by way of example.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A daming appliance comprising in combination two plates such as a andb each having its lower edge serrated and the plate b having itsserrations double the pitch or spacing of those of the plate a, andmeans whereby the plate b can be moved laterally in relation to theplate a through a distance equal to one pitch or spacing of theserrations of the said plate a and depressed against the action of aspring to press down alternate ones of warp threads passed through therecesses of the plate a, substantially as set forth.

2. An appliance according to claim 1 further characterized by theprovision of a removable pin such as f, adapted to be positioned on theplate a, a. short distance below the upper ends of the recesses in thelower edge of the said plate.

REGINALD G. MACPHERSON.

